Improbable Stair, photo by Harold Davis. View this image larger.

I put this impossible image together using a cloudscape from the Bay area and the stairs at Scotty’s Castle in Death Valley. A third piece—the sunburst—comes from the Devil’s Golf Course, also in Death Valley.

It’s no secret that I have a weakness for spirals. The original image that is the base of this composite seemed to call out for clouds (thanks to Photoblog 2.0 reader Wanda particularly for suggesting it).

Garth Nix’s Keys to the Kingdom series—beloved of my kids, and I like it too!—features an improbable stair, and I borrowed the title for this image because it seems to fit so well.